Begich: Small chance Palin challenges him in 2014

Sarah Palin has made no real moves to run for Alaska’s Senate seat, so credit Mark Begich for keeping her candidacy alive.

In an interview, Begich gave Palin a “30 percent chance” of getting into the Republican primary this summer, insisting that Palin must do something to stay relevant on a national scale — and running for the Senate might do the trick.

The Alaska senator then repeatedly questioned Palin’s residency — as he did in an interview last July. This time Begich pointed to the database for the Permanent Fund Dividend Division, money paid to Alaska residents out of a state mineral royalties. A search of the 2013 database includes names of several members of Palin’s family, but no Sarah Palin.

“In Alaska you measure yourself as an Alaskan: Did you get your permanent fund check? She didn’t qualify this year, so I’m not sure if she’s Alaskan anymore,” Begich said. “In Alaska’s eyes that means you have no intent of coming back and you weren’t in Alaska long enough this year to be an Alaskan.”

The former Alaska governor recently completed a barnstorming tour of the heartland, endorsing conservative Senate candidates in Oklahoma, Nebraska and Iowa. But she hasn’t weighed in on her homestate race, keeping a potential candidacy on the hot stove as the June 2 filing deadline looms.

Begich said if Palin doesn’t get into the race, she’ll have a tough endorsement choice between the GOP contenders: former state Attorney General Dan Sullivan, Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell and underfunded Joe Miller, who Begich continues to praise and seems to hope ends up being on the ballot in November.

“She’s in a box because Sullivan and Mead are establishment candidates. Joe Miller’s an insurgent and he had the best kickoff last week. He had a textbook kickoff,” Begich said. “She’s backing in other races. Why hasn’t she said anything about Alaska yet? But her brand will require her to. She has to.”